MaximusLife, a crowd funded people-based technology company with roots in HR technology, today announced the launch of MaximusLife “My Greatest Life” on mobile. The platform is the first people-focused platform that empowers individuals to create Mobile/SMART goals for life, work and fun. The platform makes users goals SMART and then connects them with the user’s social network, their wearable devices and lifestyle apps, and even allows users to “put their heart into it” by pledging their success to good causes.

“People who set goals are more successful, they live better lives and they engage, initiate and inspire good in the world around them. It’s time technology helped further this lifestyle and make it fun,” said MaximusLife CEO Brady Bruner. Bruner went further to say, “MaximusLife on Mobile allows users to connect their growing love of wearable’s with the equally exciting rise of modern fundraising for social good and do it all for personal growth-hard to beat that with pen and paper on New Years.

Our focus is clearly on growing the individual and in our corporate conversations we like to say companies don’t have an “engagement problem”, they have a “connecting” problem. We then go onto show all the research and evidence pointing to the fact that people are much more than their work (meaningful or not) and employers need to connect with the “whole person” by knowing and empowering their broader life goals. This simple act impacts employee engagement, wellness and the whole culture of the company.”

The MaximusLife “My Greatest Life” platform gives users the ability to allow members to use any mobile device to join 30, 60 or 90 day quests challenges. MaximusLife’s technology allows users to invite their community via social networks into each challenge. Connections can quickly view personal progress at a glance on dashboards. Additionally, users can receive retail discounts as rewards and pledge personal success to a good cause.

MaximusLife mobile platform aligns well with corporate wellness programs, performance and training initiatives and employee focused development and engagement programs.

The platform is launching with hand picked partners that align well with the mission of MaximusLife. Bruner commented, “Misfit and Roma are world-class brands, run by world-changers on mission to inspire people to get-up and move towards good. They’ve inspired us and we are excited to partner with them because of what they stand for. We’ll continue to bring on partners and expand integration to more wearables and apps as we get further into the year. We are purposely taking it slow on the partner front.”

The launch of MaximusLife is the first platform of it’s kind to put the focus on the individual user with the mission of giving anyone with a mobile device the ability to engage, initiate and inspire good with their everyday life goals. The company, admittedly challenging HR technology to think outside the box, hopes corporations will jump into the rewards side and offer employees incentives to live and work with fun, visual, wearable and SMART goals in a community/team setting. The platform also opens the door for corporations looking to match charitable giving to good causes.

The company was selected to Forever Funding on Indieogogo and is opening access to contributors first and then to the public. Anyone attending SXSW can attend the Launch party on March 14th to get MaximusLife gear, free access, and give-aways from Launch partners Roma Boots and Misfit.

About MaximusLife:

Founded in 2014, MaximusLife went global after launching pre-sales on Indiegogo. The platform is the first goal-based platform of its kind in the crossing lifestyle, fitness and productivity categories with connections to modern ways of giving back. The platform caters to a mission of inspiring and growing individuals in 100% of life. Recognized in Fall 2014 as a leader in “Technology for People” at Techmanity, MaximusLife strives to get the millions of people investing in their greatest life the tools they need to further the daily good to inspire us all. The proprietary MaximusLife Quest Builder transforms everyday goals in Health & Fitness, Leisure/Just for Fun, Personal Greatness and Work into a unified metric/point system, which allows a growing network of retailers, employers, celebrity sponsors and charitable partners a real and tangible way to engage people for good. Join the movement toward your greatest life at www.MaximusLife.com

As an interviewer, it’s important to get a good sense of an entry level job candidate’s employment ethic from other things than a long work history. Discovering the work ethic of a potential hire is as simple as lining up a few questions that will provide insight into their character. Here are just a few such questions:

1. Would you be willing to miss a deadline if it meant compromising quality?

This employment interview question allows the interviewer to see what type of experience a candidate has with high pressure situations and their reactions to them. It also will tell them if they can think on their feet or be more content taking shortcuts that might not be ethical. Keep in mind you’ll be interviewing recent graduates, so they may not know how to answer this question properly and be hesitant. Don’t hold reluctance against them, but rather pay attention to what they say and how they say it.

2. Do you have an example of a time when you went above and beyond your call of duty on-the-job?

This gives the interviewer insight into whether a job candidate has a strong inner motivation to work hard or whether they’re just showing up to get a paycheck. It will also show what type of initiative they have and their style for getting things done. If the candidate doesn’t have a lot of on the job experience, consider asking them about their experience in clubs or on projects where they had to go a step further in order to ensure success. Adjust this employment interview question as you see fit based off the candidates resume before they sit down to hone in on a particular job or experience you’d want them to elaborate on.

3. If your supervisor asked you to do something illegal, what would you do?

This is a tricky employment interview question that will gather a lot of data on what types of unethical behavior a candidate might not see as unethical or whether they’re willing to be ethical under pressure. It might also lead into a prior situation in the past that they dealt with and how it was handled. You can also bring up a specific instance of something that straddles the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior and ask them what they would do in that situation. One of the big upsides of this question is that it allows you to ask to see how the candidate thinks on their feet and responds to a situation where employment ethic considerations may come into play.

Having Trouble Thinking Up Your Own Questions?

If you don’t have the time to work out interesting situational questions that can stir a conversation, don’t be afraid to simply test for the response with canned work ethics testing software. There is a higher cost and degree of effort involved, but it will provide pre-employment screening that will be automatically graded once the candidate finishes taking the test. It can also help to spot those that give a good answer only because they’ve learned to be deceptive, which while rare can happen during interviews. When conducting your interviews don’t forget these tips to make sure you appropriately screen for candidates that may not stand up to your companies ethical standards.

HR Tech Can’t Solve Your Recruitment Ailments

I want to start with stating the obvious – neither recruitment nor HR technologies are “broken.” There are quite a few HR influencers and vendors out in the market which are dedicating many resources into telling you how your current processes and technologies are broken. I don’t blame them, they have their own agenda, and even if their argument is valid in a certain scope, the situation is not as bleak as they describe.

Between HR professionals, HR technology, and the rest of the world – a lot can go wrong. And it does. However, for the most part, candidates are getting hired and the world is still turning. As with every complex process, we can always aspire be more effective and efficient at what we do. Nowadays, whenever something does not work properly, we immediately look for a technological solution. The promise of tools that can streamline our entire hiring process and foster collaboration between candidates, hiring managers, and recruiters, is captivating, but often makes us forget the real reasons behind our challenges.

Good user interface and user experience can go a long way in helping you do your job more efficiently, but at the end of the day, the technology you have is only as good as the people using it. That is always a problem with collaborative technology – your ability to control it and utilize it to its fullest is limited to the technology’s integration with organizational processes and the level of engagement of your colleagues.

Even organizations which integrated top-notch technology and have learned to utilize it perfectly, the recruitment process is far from ideal. Once we accept technology is not the end-all solution for our recruitment ailments, we can start discussing a few very practical and low-tech solutions that can easily help us tackle some of the challenges we face daily. In my previous entry I stated the importance of communication between recruitment and other functions in the organization. This can’t be stressed enough because that lack of communication is the main grief hiring managers have with recruiters.

The Client is Always Right and that Client is the Hiring Manager

I’m speaking with many executives and hiring managers and they all share one thing – they want to communicate better with you. They need you and your best judgment. Communication helps them deliver better job descriptions and requirements, and in turn, helps you find a suitable talent more easily. Of course, the better you know the hiring manager personally, the easier it is for you to make a successful hire (try to think why employee referral works better than most other hiring techniques).

Hiring managers must be an integral part of the hiring process from the get go. They need to see the candidates, talk with them, and estimate their cultural and social fit to their team. In the candidate’s eyes, recruiters are the barrier between them and the job they want, but the involvement of a hiring manager gives a feeling of involvement and engagement and increases your chances of landing the talent you want in a competitive market.

Don’t Forget Social Media

From your perspective, other than your customers (hiring managers), another function you want to work closely with is the social media specialist, for employer branding. Depending on your budget, employer branding may be an inherently HR function, or one that requires collaboration with the marketing team. If employer branding is not something that you dedicate time to – you might want to reconsider. Countless articles stress its importance on sourcing and retaining good talent. Spending big bucks on an employer branding software is not necessarily something you need, but may be a wise investment if you wish to scale the branding process.

Recruiting Process is Complex, Communication Makes it Easier

Technology is there to enable more efficient performance. It cannot replace most of us. It will not create communication and teamwork where they don’t exist, even if it is called collaborative software or social media. The more complex the process is (and hiring is a very complex process), the more things can go wrong, and the more information and communication go a long way to overcome your daily challenges.

“As we continue to help shape the next generation of strategic talent acquisition, Caleb brings valuable expertise in the rapidly evolving Recruitment and Talent Acquisition market,” says Marylene Delbourg-Delphis, CEO and Co-Founder of TalentCircles. “With his unique understanding of the business needs and challenges of senior Talent Acquisition leaders, Caleb is a great fit for both our strategic plans and our company culture.”

Caleb is a Talent Acquisition veteran with over 15 years of experience and brings extensive recruitment leadership experience to TalentCircles. Prior to TalentCircles Caleb had his own recruitment and talent acquisition consulting firm working for companies like SAP, Bazaarvoice, and Accenture. He has led multinational recruitment teams, driven a wide set of technology implementations, built recruitment strategies for mass-hiring and designed effective diversity initiatives. He has worked with companies in various industries and verticals, being responsible for deployment, product configurations, best practices definition and technical assistance.

“I’m proud to join TalentCircles at such an exciting time. Talent Acquisition leaders have worked hard to make headway with strategic recruiting strategies, but continue to struggle to directly connect it to measurable business results,” said Fullhart. “TalentCircles is a unique solution which addresses the growing frustration organizations experience in building talent pipelines and driving tangible ROI for their recruiting efforts. I initially got to know TalentCircles as a customer and it’s a privilege to now be so closely associated with the amazing team that engineered the platform and expands on it everyday.”

“We are redefining how companies plan and build organizations in this new social and online candidate-centric job market,” adds Delbourg-Delphis. Caleb’s acumen as a recruiter and talent acquisition leader will help many professionals to seamlessly move from transactional and reactive recruiting approaches to simpler and more rewarding interactive and proactive methodologies.”

About TalentCircles: Silicon Valley-based TalentCircles transforms recruiting. Its comprehensive interactive talent engagement platform for desktops, smartphones and tablets enables organizations to create powerful talent pools. The goal is to improve the efficiency of recruiters, offer candidates positive exposure to your business, and reduce your hiring costs and time. The larger your talent pool… the better it is for you when you have the right array of features like semantic job matching, screening questionnaires, video interviewing to evaluate candidates for both aptitude and attitude or perform realistic job previews. TalentCircles is the ideal solution to proactively manage the needs of organizations of any size.

As we wave goodbye to 2014 and welcome 2015, now is the perfect time to look back on what we’ve learned and think about where we want to take our recruiting in the new year. A common theme in 2014 was millennial recruitment. Millennial recruitment was a hot button issue, and one that seemed to bring up a lot of emotions, mainly confusion, from HR and hiring managers unsure of why to hire millennials and what benefits they bring. Keeping this in mind, I decided to look back on my 2014 and compile a list that sums up what millennials bring to the table and why they should be a serious part of your 2015 recruitment plan.

The Case for College Graduates at Your Company

Before we dive into my recommendations for your 2015 recruitment plan, I want to clarify that for those job seekers who have recently graduated college, that being a college graduate does not guarantee you a job even in this current healthy economy. Campus recruiting and recruiter programs are designed to find the best talent to fill important and growing roles for the organization. Companies who invest in these type of programs are actively looking to engage with college graduates and those interested in internship programs.

College Graduate Skill #1 – Enthusiasm

New grads can breathe fresh life into your company. They are excited to land their first job after college, and they have an enthusiasm that can only come from the excitement of a new chapter in life. Focus on applicants who have a real zest for your company’s mission, even if they don’t have the experience you want. It is better to have a happy employee who is willing to work hard and learn than an expert who lacks drive and doesn’t care about the company. Enthusiasm and drive are qualities every company wants, and Millennials deliver: 30 percent started their own business while still in college, and 92 percent believe entrepreneurship education is essential in today’s job market and economy.

College Graduate Skill #2 - Humbleness

Contrary to what many say about millennials, they aren’t any more entitled than a more seasoned worker. It is inevitable though that you will run across some candidates who will show their hand and reveal that they are not the best team player. To catch these types of potential hires during the interview process, mention some of the more mundane jobs the prospective entry-level hire will be tasked with, like organizing files or doing the expense reports, during the interview. If they balk or object , remind them that most employees start with the company that way to learn the ropes, then keep looking through your pile of applications for someone that may be a better fit.

College Graduate Skill #3 – Multitasking Skills

Most college grads have mastered the art of multitasking. This trait is something that, if taken advantage of properly, will translate to increased productivity within your company. Millennials have grown up living their lives on multiple screens, texting while surfing the web and holding conversations all at the same time. Their ability to juggle many things at once means that they are particularly suited to jobs that entail a lot of variety. Don’t be afraid to give them a few varied tasks once on the job to keep them on their toes and the job interesting.

College Graudate Skill #4 – Tech-Savvy

There is no denying that recent college grads have an edge when it comes to technology. They grew up in an age of computers and the Internet, and they are quick to learn the latest programs and software. You’ll spend less time holding their hands during the training process, and they likely already be familiar with many technologically efficient solutions and strategies. Millennials will also most likely have the best insight into what technology their contemporaries are using, giving you direct access into the latest trends and places potential customers might be.

College Graduate Skill #5 – Eager to Learn

These young adults, born between 1976 and 2001, are more educated than any previous generation. Twenty percent of Millennial males have completed at least four years of college, and 15% of females have done the same. This love of learning extends to their careers as well. Over 60 percent of Millennials report that the most influential factor in their current position is opportunity for personal development, and just over half say that opportunities for career progression make a company more attractive. This means that they are eager to learn and want to grow with your company. Use this to your advantage by giving them opportunities to learn new skills that are relevant to their position and they will quickly become your most valuable hires.

As your 2015 hiring gets underway, keep these points in mind. Recruiting millennials, recent graduates and college grads can give your company an edge and starting early means you’ll develop a system and beat the competition for top millennial talent.

Employee Relations’ Role in New Hire Onboarding.

The recruitment process is among some of the most complex processes any organization has. It requires deep integration of recruiters with talent management functions, hiring managers, brand marketing functions, candidates, and in some cases with external recruiting agencies. Failure to maintain these relationships across the board often results in misaligned recruiting and poor employee relations. However, that is only part of the story – the recruiting process does not end at landing that great talent, but is rather an ongoing process that begins at sourcing the candidate and ends with a successful onboarding.

To demonstrate just how important onboarding is in our recruiting process, a SHRM study revealed some interesting numbers:

More than 25 percent of the U.S. population experiences some type of career transition each year.

In Fortune 500 companies alone, about 500,000 managers take on new roles each year.

Managers begin new jobs every two to four years.

Half of all senior outside hires fail within 18 months in a new position.

Half of all hourly workers leave new jobs within the first 120 days.

The Hefty Cost of Hiring & Losing an Employee

The price we pay for failed onboarding is hefty. Redundant recruiter and interviewer hours, redundant training costs, and redundant external recruiter commissions are just some of the direct costs we endure when hiring an employee. Lost production and efficiency while the position is open, overtime to make up the work, and sometimes even reputation loss, are glaring indirect costs we endure. Failed onboarding is a lose-lose situation for recruiters. So what can we do defeat the statistics?

Throwing new employees into a hiring manager’s hands and forgetting about them makes everyone feel the entire process is mechanic and impersonal. Onboarding is an integral element of the hiring process. Don’t stop your engagement when you have delivered the goods. We all praise those suppliers that keep in touch with us and ask our opinion after we purchased their product. Be one of them. Think of it as a long term investment on retention.

2. Get Constant Feedback from Hiring Managers

You have to remember who your customers are. It is key that you maintain an open line of communication with managers you are hiring for, before the hire and during onboarding. What are their pains, what they liked or did not like about previous hires, and what are their expectations from you and the candidates. The hiring managers will give you an indication of the level of involvement they expect from you, but don’t be shy about testing those limits. Make it clear your involvement is beneficial for them. Being engaged in the onboarding process will give you a lot of information about what it takes to make a great future hire and further help employee relations

3. Tangible Data Helps you Make Better Decisions

A great way for you to monitor and engage with new hires and managers is through data. You want to hear opinions and feelings, but you also need tangible data to back those up. Surveying new hires’ engagement levels, collaboration, social integration, and satisfaction is crucial during the first year. Do that at the latest 30 days after the hire, and then once again every 30 or 60 days. If you managed to improve the onboarding process and use it to make better hires in the future, you have created significant value already.

Communication Enhances Performance

Onboarding is an important part of the recruitment process and you should invest just as many resources into it as you invest into sourcing and hiring candidates. Successful onboarding has a significant positive effect on financial and operational performance. Don’t underestimate your ability to boost performance through better communication with managers and new hires. Don’t forget the long term advantages of having good relationships with employees and managers for yourself and the other HR functions.

LONDON, Jan. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ – Web Based Recruitment, experts in the areas of Mobile Recruitment and Recruiting Videos, confirmed that there had been strong interest in the recently announced 2015 Global Mobile Recruitment Awards.

Now in their second year the awards will acknowledge those companies leading the way in the use of Mobile Recruitment and at the same time help raise the awareness of Mobile Recruiting best practice.

“The awards not only give an opportunity to show what is currently happening in the market but they will also help raise the level of awareness about Mobile Recruitment and how it is being currently used across the world,” said Mike Taylor from Web Based Recruitment, organizers of the awards.

Mobile Recruitment – A Hot Subject

“Mobile Recruitment continues to be a hot subject area at the moment globally, with published reports and surveys consistently showing that job seekers want to able to search and apply for jobs using their mobile device. Unfortunately, the majority of companies still don’t make this service available to job seekers and unless they start making changes in 2015 they will still be in danger of missing out on candidates.”

Award Categories

The 2015 Global Mobile Recruitment Awards consist of the following categories:

Best Corporate Mobile Website

Best Recruitment Agency / Staffing Firm Mobile Website

Best Job Board Mobile Website

Best Corporate Mobile Recruitment App

Best Recruitment Agency / Staffing Firm Mobile Recruitment App

Best Job Board Mobile Recruitment App

Best Mobile Recruitment Marketing Campaign

Best Mobile Employee Engagement Platform

Most Innovative Mobile Recruitment Product or Service

2014 Winners

The winners from the inaugural Global Mobile Recruitment Awards in 2014 were:

The 2015 Global Mobile Recruitment Awards offers sponsors an excellent opportunity to be associated with companies at the forefront of excellence and innovation in mobile recruitment whilst at the same time adding brand exposure and a chance to promote their products and services. Further information about these limited sponsorship opportunities can be found at:http://mobilerecruitmentawards.com/sponsorship/.